Day 65, Miles Ridden Today: 17 Miles Ridden Overall: 2,300 Camping: $22, We are staying overnight at Artillery Ridge campground along the Gettysburg Battlefield in Gettysburg, PA. It is normally $45 per night but we finally got to use our Passport America membership for 50% off tonight and tomorrow night!- To track online our current location, see instruction on the “Ride the Nation Route Plan” page- Also, follow us on Twitter, search “ridethenation”- Check out our blog on www.bmxmania.com for exclusive details you won’t find here.We woke this morning to a light drizzle. It wasn’t enough to slow us down just a little annoying. I, Frankenbutt, went into the camp store and got some complimentary coffee for me and some milk to go with our Reeses Puffs cereal and we all enjoyed the break from our regular oatmeal. Our picnic table was slightly damp and the trees over would occasionally drip a raindrop into our cereal bowls with a face splashing “plop” but such is tent life.Tammy willingly volunteered to stay at the campsite with Coco so that the Beast and I could explorer the Gettysburg Battlefield, which is the reason I’m writing the blog tonight. The Beast and I prepared by removing Coco’s trailer and any other non-essentials from our bikes and as soon as we got out our rain gear, the rain stopped. We packed our rain jackets just in case, but they turned out to be unnecessary. We mounted our bikes and raced our new lightweight bikes toward town, commenting how strange they felt without all that weight.

Our first stop was a return to “Abraham’s Lady” where the Beast tried on a hoop skirt and looked at shoes. She was happy and I was looking at my watch. Our next stop was the “Gettysburg Sutler”, a store we saw yesterday but was closed. Unfortunately it was still closed and wouldn’t open until 1:00. We rode through the center of town to the northwest area of the battlefield where the fighting had begun a week shy of 148 years ago. We rode our bikes along the shoulder of the busy US Highway 30 and then dodged traffic to make our way across to Reynolds Ave. A short ride down the road brought us to where the first shots were fired. With our bikes leaned against a fence, the Beast and I walked toward the tree line. There are several dozen if not hundreds of monuments over the battlefield, that have been dedicated over the years and we were not inclined to read every one but when we reached the edge of the woods, one caught our eyes. It marked the spot where Major-General John F. Reynolds fell and became the first officer killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. We stood there facing the trees with our backs to the road and I could picture the Confederates emerging from the woods.

We were soon back on our bikes making our way down Seminary Ridge where the bulk of the Confederate Army were eventually positioned and stopped to see the memorial erected by North Carolina and sculpted by Gutzon Borglum. The men in the sculpture are facing across the unspoiled farm land to where the Union Soldiers would have been waiting for them, a mile away. From our vantage point we could see other monuments and memorials erected by the northern states and the thought of all these men charging across the open landscape during “Pickett’s Charge” was enough to send chills down your spine.

We continued along Seminary Ridge to an observation tower that we climbed to get a look over the entire battlefield. From that vantage point, we could see most all of Gettysburg plus President Eisenhower’s farm.

The Beast and I climbed back down the tower stairs and rode on and ran into none other than “Robert E. Lee” himself. If he were truly alive today, evidently he would drive a Hyundai with a license plate that that reads IM RELEE, at least that’s what vehicle this “Lee” climbed into after posing for a pic with the Beast. Around the Rebel’s right flank and onto Little Big Top we rode, where Colonel Joshua Chamberlain repelled the attacking Confederates and earned fame. And then it was onto Cemetery Ridge to see where Meade’s Army defeated the Lee’s forces and turned the tide in the war.We left the field feeling very good and very hungry, so we rode toward McDonalds to get some lunch. The Beast decided to take short cut into the exit from MickyD’s, cut right in front of me and I smashed right into her causing her to fly off her bike and onto the street. She was a little shaken but sustained no good road rash or bruises and retained all of her hunger.With her belly full she wanted to go back to the Sutler store to see if was finally opened and it was. She got to shop for all the era clothing she wanted and dad continued to look at his watch.We returned to the campground and met up with butterball to cook some dinner. I boiled some water for our pasta, added the noodles and chicken, and watch the flame flicker on our stove as it used up the last of our fuel. The camp store didn’t carry our type of fuel so we improvised by getting a fire going and finishing cooking. Nothing like pasta over an open fire just like those cowboys in the” spaghetti westerns” did it.